2017 EFL Championship play-off Final
The 2017 EFL Championship play-off final was hosted on 29 May 2017 at Wembley Stadium, London. The winner gains promotion to the 2017–18 Premier League season. The top two teams of the 2016–17 EFL Championship season gain automatic promotion to the Premier League, whilst the teams placed between third and sixth place in the league table play two initial matches in a series of play-offs, and the top two teams of the play-offs play for the final place for the 2017–18 season in the Premier League. Huddersfield Town won on penalties against Reading in the final, ending many years of waiting for a return to the top flight. Teams Route to final |- style="background:#c1e0ff" |Opponent |Agg. |1st leg |2nd leg |Play-offs |Opponent |Agg. |1st leg |2nd leg |- |align=left|Fulham |2–1 |1–1 (A) |1–0 (H) |style="background:#c1e0ff"|Semi-finals |align=left|Sheffield Wednesday |1–1 |0–0 (H) |1–1 aet (A) 4–3 on pens |} Reading qualified for the play-offs following a 1–0 victory over Wigan Athletic at the Madejski Stadium on 29 April 2017. On 16 May, Reading reached the final after beating Fulham 1–0 at the Madejski Stadium with a penalty scored by Yann Kermorgant after Tomas Kalas had handled the ball. This gave them a 2–1 aggregate victory, the first leg having finished 1–1 at Craven Cottage with goals from Jordan Obita for Reading and Tom Cairney for Fulham. The game is Reading's first appearance in the final since 2011 when they were beaten 4–2 by Swansea City. Reading have never won a play-off competition, having previously lost to Bolton Wanderers in the 1995 First Division play-off final and to Walsall in the 2001 Second Division play-off final, while losing in the second tier play-off semi-finals in 2003 and 2009. Huddersfield Town qualified for the play-offs on 25 April 2017 following a 1–0 win against Wolverhampton Wanderers. In the first leg of the semi-final, on 14 May 2017, they drew 0–0 at the John Smith's Stadium against Sheffield Wednesday. The second-leg, on 18 May 2017, finished 1–1 at the end of extra-time. Sheffield Wednesday scored first through Steven Fletcher only for Tom Lees to score an own goal to equalize for Huddersfield Town. The resulting penalty shootout finished 4–3 in Huddersfield's favour with their goalkeeper, Danny Ward saving two Wednesday penalties, from Sam Hutchinson and Fernando Forestieri. Match overview Build up The final took place on 29 May 2017. Winning the game is estimated to be worth at least £170m to the winning team. Reading were allocated 38,342 tickets for the final in the eastern half of Wembley Stadium, with their opponents being allocated the western half of the ground. Ticket prices range from £36 to £98 for adults, with concessions being half price Reading went without captain Paul McShane, who was shown a straight red in their play-off semi-final first leg game at Fulham. He will, additionally, be suspended for the first game of next season. Match Hefele Wells Mooy Schindler |penaltyscore=4–3 |penalties2=Kermorgant Williams Kelly Moore Obita |stadium=Wembley Stadium, London |attendance= |referee=Neil Swarbrick }} |style="vertical-align:top; width:50%;"| |} Category:Events at Wembley Stadium Category:Football League Championship play-off Finals Category:2017 Football League play-offs